Kingussie’s 30-year dream to join Highland ‘Wolf of Badenoch’ trail is realised
“I wonder if he is looking down on us today?” asked John Robertson on Tuesday as he welcomed a big crowd to the unveiling of a sculpture commemorating the infamous Wolf of Badenoch.
“Chances are that more likely he’s looking up at us, I think…”
Such is the reputation of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Lord of Badenoch (1343-1405), the fourth son of the first Stewart King of Scotland, Robert II.
His forceful exploitation of his royal office and the expansion of the lands he controlled provoked local opposition, especially from churchmen, and there are even some people today who are uneasy about Kingussie’s contribution to the Highland ‘trail’ in his name.
But as Mr Robertson explained, the day was the culmination of a 30-year project to place a high quality piece of art in Kingussie to celebrate The Storylands’ unique place in the rich heritage of the Highlands. First, though, he paid tribute to the late Bobby Nield, who so long ago had the vision to start a company called Badenoch Community Projects.
“He had a few like-minded visionaries alongside him - some of them are here today - intent on creating community facilities for Badenoch. In time the Badenoch Centre came to fruition, as did Talla nan Ros, and the real tribute is how busy these facilities have become. As Bobby said, ‘If we build it, they’ll come and use it’. And he was right.
“He had a lot of ideas, Bobby. You may say he was a lone wolf when it came to ideas! In 1998 there was a dance in the old Victoria Hall and it was called Running With Wolves. He was there with Shirley and afterwards I remember Bobby saying ‘Some day maybe we could get a permanent outdoor wolf sculpture to attract people to the town and to raise the awareness of the story of the Wolf of Badenoch, using fine art.
“I want to thank sculptor Helen Denerley for her patience over many years and the skill working with metal which has made her such a highly renowned artist. We are really delighted that she can be here today and we thank her so much. I want to thank Simon Lesley and Kenny Bell for putting the beautiful stone in place for her.”
He also thanked the town’s community development company for its backing and the many who had contributed financially to the project, seeing it through to the end five years after the sad loss of the man who had conceived it.
“We really miss Bobby and we’re sure he will be looking down on us and will be so pleased that we saw it through to a conclusion, grateful to all those committee members who saw the job through.”
The Wolf, project, Mr Robertson revealed, was the company’s last, as the six-strong committee would now be standing down.
Bobby’s widow Shirley then helped the sculptor to remove the covers and reveal a superb ‘wolf’ to the world, as piper Sandy MacDonell performed ‘John Roy Stewart’, the tune composed for a descendant of the Wolf.
An evening talk on the Wolf, presented by Stephen Boardman, Professor of Medieval History at Edinburgh University, was sold out days in advance.
